Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 8:3
David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
3 8. Conquest of Zobah and Damascus
3. Hadadezer ] This name is written Hadarezer in ch. 2Sa 10:16-19, and in Chronicles, the letters d ( ) and r ( ) being easily confused in Hebrew. Hadad was the name of the Syrian sun-god, and Hadadezer appears to be the true form, meaning “whose help is Hadad.”
Zobah ] The exact position and limits of this kingdom are undetermined. It seems to have been north-east of Damascus and south of Hamath, between the Orontes and Euphrates. Saul waged wars with its “kings,” who were probably independent chieftains (1Sa 14:47), but now it was consolidated under one ruler, and was a country of considerable wealth and power.
to recover his border ] The phrase cannot be thus rendered, but means probably either to renew his attack or to re-establish his power. The parallel passage in 1Ch 18:3 has a different verb, meaning to set up his power. The subject of the sentence is Hadadezer, and the occasion referred to is probably that which is described more fully in ch. 2Sa 10:15-19. The Ammonites had hired the Syrians to help them against David, who defeated their combined forces. Hadadezer thereupon summoned the Syrians from beyond the Euphrates to his assistance, but was totally defeated.
at the river Euphrates ] Euphrates is not in the written text, but according to the Jewish tradition is to be read (see Introd. p. 15). But the addition is unnecessary. “The River” by itself was understood to mean the Euphrates. Cp. ch. 2Sa 10:16; Psa 72:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hadadezer – Not (see the margin) Hadarezer. Hadadezer, is the true form, as seen in the names Benhadad, Hadad (1Ki 15:18, etc.; 1Ki 11:14, etc.). Hadad was the chief idol, or sun-god, of the Syrians.
To recover his border – literally, to cause his hand to return. The phrase is used sometimes literally, as e. g. Exo 4:7; 1Ki 13:4; Pro 19:24; and sometimes figuratively, as Isa 1:25; Isa 14:27; Amo 1:8; Psa 74:11. The exact force of the metaphor must in each case be decided by the context. If, as is most probable, this verse relates to the circumstances more fully detailed in 2Sa 10:15-19, the meaning of the phrase here will be when he (Hadadezer) went to renew his attack (upon Israel), or to recruit his strength against Israel, at the river Euphrates.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. David smote – Hadadezer] He is supposed to have been king of all Syria, except Phoenicia; and, wishing to extend his dominions to the Euphrates, invaded a part of David’s dominions which lay contiguous to it; but being attacked by David, he was totally routed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hadadezer, called Hadarezer, 1Ch 18:3, the Hebrew letters daleth and reseh being alike, and so oft interchanged.
Zobah; a part of Syria, lying north-east from Canaan, towards Hamath, 1Ch 18:3. See 1Sa 14:47.
As he went.
Quest. Who?
Answ. Either, first, Hadarezer; who, being already very potent, and going to enlarge his dominion further, David thought fit to oppose him. Or, secondly, David, who remembering the grant which God had made to his people of all the land as far as Euphrates, and having subdued his neighbouring enemies, went to recover his rights, and stablish his dominion as far as Euphrates.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Zobah (1Ch18:3). This kingdom was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, andit extended westward from that river, perhaps as far north as Aleppo.It was long the chief among the petty kingdoms of Syria, and its kingbore the hereditary title of “Hadadezer” or “Hadarezer”(“Hadad,” that is, “helped”).
as he went to recover hisborder at the river Euphratesin accordance with the promisesGod made to Israel that He would give them all the country as far asthe Euphrates (Gen 15:18; Num 24:17).In the first campaign David signally defeated Hadadezer. Besides agreat number of foot prisoners, he took from him an immense amount ofbooty in chariots and horses. Reserving only a small number of thelatter, he hamstrung the rest. The horses were thus mutilated becausethey were forbidden to the Hebrews, both in war and agriculture. Soit was of no use to keep them. Besides, their neighbors placed muchdependence on cavalry, but having, for want of a native breed, toprocure them by purchase, the greatest damage that could be done tosuch enemies was to render their horses unserviceable in war. (Seealso Gen 46:6; Jos 11:6;Jos 11:9). A king ofDamascene-Syria came to Hadadezer’s succor; but David routed thoseauxiliary forces also, took possession of their country, putgarrisons into their fortified towns, and made them tributary.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And David also smote Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,…. Called sometimes Aramzobah, and was a part of Syria, as its name shows. Benjamin, of Tudela h takes it to be the same with Haleb or Aleppo; Josephus i calls it Sophene; but that is placed by Ptolemy k beyond the Euphrates; whereas this country must be between that river and the land of Israel, and was contiguous to it, and near Damascus; and it was so near the land of Israel, and being conquered by David, that it became a controversy with the Jews, whether it was not to be reckoned part of it, and in several things they allow it to be equal to it l. Rehob was the first king of this part of Syria, and then his son the second and last; he is called Hadarezer in 1Ch 18:3; the letters “D” and “R”, being frequently changed in the Hebrew tongue: him David fought with, and overcame,
as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates; which some understand of Hadadezer, so Jarchi and Kimchi, who attempted to recover part of his dominions that had been taken by some one or another from him, which lay upon the river Euphrates; or he endeavoured to enlarge his dominions, and carry them as far as the river, and establish the borders of them; and while he was doing this, or attempting it, David fell upon him, and routed him; or rather this refers to David, who considering that the ancient border of the land of Israel, as given to Abraham, reached to the river Euphrates, Ge 15:18; he set out on an expedition to recover this border, and whereas the country of this king lay in his way, he invaded that; upon which Hadadezer rose up against him, and was conquered by him, and by this means the border was recovered to the kingdom of Israel, and reached so far, as is plain it did in Solomon’s time, 1Ki 4:21.
h Itinerar. p. 59. i Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.) k Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. l T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 8. 1. 2. Misn. Demai, c. 6. sect. 11. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Conquest and Subjugation of the King of Zobah, and of the Damascene Syrians. – 2Sa 8:3. The situation of Zobah cannot be determined. The view held by the Syrian church historians, and defended by Michaelis, viz., that Zobah was the ancient Nisibis in northern Mesopotamia, has no more foundation to rest upon than that of certain Jewish writers who suppose it to have been Aleppo, the present Haleb. Aleppo is too far north for Zobah, and Nisibis is quite out of the range of the towns and tribes in connection with which the name of Zobah occurs. In 1Sa 14:47, compared with 2Sa 8:12 of this chapter, Zobah, or Aram Zobah as it is called in 2Sa 10:6 and Psa 60:2, is mentioned along with Ammon, Moab, and Edom, as a neighbouring tribe and kingdom to the Israelites; and, according to 2Sa 8:3, 2Sa 8:5, and 2Sa 8:9 of the present chapter, it is to be sought for in the vicinity of Damascus and Hamath towards the Euphrates. These data point to a situation to the north-east of Damascus and south of Hamath, between the Orontes and Euphrates, and in fact extending as far as the latter according to 2Sa 8:3, whilst, according to 2Sa 10:16, it even reached beyond it with its vassal-chiefs into Mesopotamia itself. Ewald ( Gesch. iii. p. 195) has therefore combined Zobah, which was no doubt the capital, and gave its name to the kingdom, with the Sabe mentioned in Ptol. v. 19, – a town in the same latitude as Damascus, and farther east towards the Euphrates. The king of Zobah at the time referred to is called Hadadezer in the text (i.e., whose help is Hadad); but in 2Sa 10:16-19 and throughout the Chronicles he is called Hadarezer. The first is the original form; for Hadad, the name of the sun-god of the Syrians, is met with in several other instances in Syrian names (vid., Movers, Phnizier). David smote this king “ as he was going to restore his strength at the river (Euphrates).” does not mean to turn his hand, but signifies to return his hand, to stretch it out again over or against any one, in all the passage in which the expression occurs. It is therefore to be taken in a derivative sense in the passage before us, and signifying to restore or re-establish his sway. The expression used in the Chronicles (2Sa 8:3), , has just the same meaning, since establishing or making fast presupposes a previous weakening or dissolution. Hence the subject of the sentence “as he went,” etc., must be Hadadezer and not David; for David could not have extended his power to the Euphrates before the defeat of Hadadezer. The Masoretes have interpolated P’rath (Euphrates) after “the river,” as in the text of the Chronicles. This is correct enough so far as the sense is concerned, but it is by no means necessary, as the nahar (the river . . ) is quite sufficient of itself to indicate the Euphrates.
There is also a war between David and Hadadezer and other kings of Syria mentioned in 2 Samuel 10; and the commentators all admit that that war, in which David defeated these kings when they came to the help of the Ammonites, is connected with the war mentioned in the present chapter. But the connection is generally supposed to be this, that the first of David’s Aramaean wars is given in 2 Samuel 8, the second in 2 Samuel 10; for no other reason, however, than because 2 Samuel 10 stands after 2 Samuel 8. This view is decidedly an erroneous one. According to the chapter before us, the war mentioned there terminated in the complete subjugation of the Aramaean kings and kingdoms. Aram became subject to David, paying tribute (2Sa 8:6). Now, though the revolt of subjugated nations from their conquerors is by no means a rare thing in history, and therefore it is perfectly conceivable in itself that the Aramaeans should have fallen away from David when he was involved in the war with the Ammonites, and should have gone to the help of the Ammonites, such an assumption is precluded by the fact that there is nothing in 2 Samuel 10 about any falling away or revolt of the Aramaeans from David; but, on the contrary, these tribes appear to be still entirely independent of David, and to be hired by the Ammonites to fight against him. But what is absolutely decisive against this assumption, is the fact that the number of Aramaeans killed in the two wars is precisely the same (compare 2Sa 8:4 with 2Sa 10:18): so that it may safely be inferred, not only that the war mentioned in 2 Samuel 10, in which the Aramaeans who had come to the help of the Ammonites were smitten by David, was the very same as the Aramaean war mentioned in 2 Samuel 8, but of which the result only is given; but also that all the wars which David waged with the Aramaeans, like his war with Edom (2Sa 8:13.), arose out of the Ammonitish war (2 Samuel 10), and the fact that the Ammonites enlisted the help of the kings of Aram against David (2Sa 10:6). We also obtain from 2 Samuel 10 an explanation of the expression “as he went to restore his power (Eng. Ver. ‘recover his border’) at the river,” since it is stated there that Hadadezer was defeated by Joab the first time, and that, after sustaining this defeat, he called the Aramaeans on the other side of the Euphrates to his assistance, that he might continue the war against Israel with renewed vigour (2Sa 10:13, 2Sa 10:15.). The power of Hadadezer had no doubt been crippled by his first defeat; and in order to restore it, he procured auxiliary troops from Mesopotamia with which to attack David, but he was defeated a second time, and obliged to submit to him (2Sa 10:17-18). In this second engagement “David took from him (i.e., captured) seventeen hundred horse-soldiers and twenty thousand foot” (2Sa 8:4, compare 2Sa 10:18). This decisive battle took place, according to 1Ch 18:3, in the neighbourhood of Hamath, i.e., Epiphania on the Orontes (see at Num 13:21, and Gen 10:18), or, according to 2Sa 10:18 of this book, at Helam, – a difference which may easily be reconciled by the simple assumption that the unknown Helam was somewhere near to Hamath. Instead of 1700 horse-soldiers, we find in the Chronicles (1Ch 18:4) 1000 chariots and 7000 horsemen. Consequently the word receb has no doubt dropped out after in the text before us, and the numeral denoting a thousand has been confounded with the one used to denote a hundred; for in the plains of Syria seven thousand horsemen would be a much juster proportion to twenty thousand foot than seventeen hundred. (For further remarks, see at 2Sa 10:18.) “And David lamed all the cavalry,” i.e., he made the war-chariots and cavalry perfectly useless by laming the horses (see at Jos 11:6, Jos 11:9), – “and only left a hundred horses.” The word receb in these clauses signifies the war-horses generally, – not merely the carriage-horses, but the riding-horses as well, – as the meaning cavalry is placed beyond all doubt by Isa 21:7, and it can hardly be imagined that David would have spared the riding-horses.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(3) Hadadezer . . . king of Zobah.This name is sometimes (1Ch. 18:3; 1Ch. 18:5; 1Ch. 18:7, &c.) spelt Hadarezer, the letters d and r being much alike in Hebrew and easily confused; but the form given here is right, Hadad being the chief idol of the Syrians. Zobah (called in the title of Psalms 60 Aram-Zobah) was a kingdom, the position of which cannot be exactly determined, but lying north-east of Israel, and formerly governed by petty kings with whom Saul had wars (1Sa. 14:47). When or by what means it had become united under a single sovereign is unknown, but from 2Sa. 8:4 with 2Sa. 10:6; 2Sa. 10:16, it is plain that he was a monarch of considerable power, and controlled tribes beyond the Euphrates.
To recover his border.Literally, to cause his hand to return, a phrase which in itself might mean either to renew his attack, or to re-establish his power. The latter is shown to be the sense here by the expression in 1Ch. 18:3, to establish his dominion, and is so translated in the LXX. What happened is more fully explained in 2Sa. 10:13-19 : the Ammonites had obtained the help of the Syrians when their combined armies were defeated by David; Hadadezer then attempted to summon to his aid the tribes beyond the river (i.e., the Euphrates), but David cut short his plans by another crushing defeat, which reduced them all to subjection. Our Version inserts the word Euphrates on the authority of the margin of the Hebrew, several MSS., and all the ancient versions. The river, however, would in any case mean the Euphrates.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Smote also Hadadezer In 2Sa 10:16; 2Sa 10:19 and 1Ch 18:3 called Hadarezer. Owing to the fragmentary character of the accounts, and it being no design, of the writer in either place to give all the details of these Aramean wars, the relation of this defeat of Hadadezer to that recorded in chap. x cannot be positively decided. The mere fact that the account of chap. x stands after this decides nothing in the case. Probably the Syrians’ interference in the Ammonitish war, as recorded in chap. x, was the occasion of David’s first battle with them, and the account of this chapter is a condensed statement of the results of that same war. By calling out his forces from beyond the Euphrates, (2Sa 10:16,) Hadadezer seems to have lost his dominion in that quarter. But after his defeat by the Israelites, as soon as he could gather up his scattered army he went to recover that border, ( of this verse,) and then David straightway pursued and gained the victories here recorded. So the order of these Syrian wars we take to be the following. The Syrians, hired by Hanun, come and fight with Joab before Medeba. 2Sa 10:8, see note. Being defeated they gather up again, and, being reinforced by fresh troops from beyond the Euphrates, they suffer a second defeat at Helam. 2Sa 10:15-19. The officers of the army, including several petty kings of Syria, make peace with David, but as soon as Hadarezer can recruit a new army he goes to recover his border beyond the river, when David pursues and defeats him a third time, and also the Syrians of Damascus, who interfere to help the king of Zobah. On Zobah see note on 1Sa 14:47. It was a great and powerful province of ancient Syria, and its kings were bitter foes of the Israelitish monarchy. It was rich in brass and gold, and seems to have extended over the vast plains that stretch off northeast of Damascus towards the Euphrates.
His border Hadadezer’s border the outskirts of his kingdom on the east. This he seems to have lost by going to assist the Ammonites. 2Sa 10:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 8:3. To recover his border at the river The Hebrew lehashib yado, may be literally rendered, as he went to turn back his hand, &c. David smote Hadadezer, when he, David, went to turn back his, Hadadezer’s, hand, by the Euphrates; i.e. to repel Hadadezer and his forces at the river, and prevent the intended invasion of his dominions. Here then Hadadezer was also the aggressor. In the parallel place, 1Ch 18:3 it is lehatzib yado, to establish his hand, or power, at the Euphrates. He wanted to extend his dominions to the Euphrates; and in order to it, designed to invade those of David which lay nearest to that river. David, therefore, had a right by force to prevent it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(3) David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. (4) And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.
Here is another fulfillment, if not of prophecy, yet at least of promise. The extent of these kingdoms reached towards Euphrates, and the Lord’s promise to Abraham and his seed, was to extend from the river Egypt to Euphrates. See Gen 15:18 . David appears to have composed a song of praise on this occasion, as appears by the title of the 60th Psalm. It is one of David’s michtams; that is, his golden Psalms. Aram-naharaim, signifies the city of rivers, perhaps so called, from its being well supplied with rivers. Damascus was the metropolis of Syria. Hence the haughty Syrian disdained the sacred river Jordan, while extolling Abana and Pharpar beyond it. See 2Ki 5:12 . The destruction of the chariot horses, seems to have been done in conformity to that law of God, which forbad the Israelites from increasing their cavalry, lest they should thereby be tempted to put their trust in horses and chariots, See Deu 17:16 ; Psa 20:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Sa 8:3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
Ver. 3. David smote also Hadadezer. ] An ambitious and turbulent prince, who began to grow exceeding potent; and had already, as it may seem, subdued Damascus, and was now formidable to the Israelites. Saul had had wars with his father Zobah, 1Sa 14:47 and haply he might pretend that old quarrel, or the conquest of Canaan by his predecessor Cushanrishathaim.
As he went to recover.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hadadezer. Some codices, with four early printed editions, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “Hadadezer” (compare 1Ch 18:3, 1Ch 18:5). Some divide and make it two words.
Zobah. See Psa 60:1, and compare 1Sa 14:47.
recover. Hebrew cause his hand to cover: “hand “put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for possessing.
border = boundary. 1Ch 18:2, “establish his dominion there”.
Euphrates. Compare 1Ch 18:3 and Gen 15:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hadadezer: 1Ch 18:3, Hadarezer
Zobah: 2Sa 10:6, 1Sa 14:47, 1Ki 11:23, 1Ki 11:24, Psa 60:1, *title
at the river: Gen 15:18, Exo 23:31, Deu 11:24, 1Ki 4:21, Psa 72:8
Reciprocal: Deu 1:7 – the great 2Sa 10:16 – Hadarezer 1Ch 19:6 – Zobah 2Ch 8:3 – Hamathzobah Ezr 4:16 – thou shalt have Rev 9:14 – the great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 8:3. King of Zobah Zobah was a part of Syria, whose eastern border was Euphrates, as the western was the land of Canaan, and the kingdom of Damascus. As he went to recover his border That is, as David went to extend the limits of his kingdom toward the river Euphrates, he smote this king, who probably came out to oppose him. David remembered the grant which God had made to his people of all the land, as far as that river; and, having subdued his neighbouring enemies, went to recover his rights, according to the divine promise and gift.